Over the last couple of months, I have considered exploring other genres. Yes, I went from romance to dark romance to horror fairly easily when I kept the pairing of my characters as females. Lesbian romance was where I started; and while I branched out into some straight romance, I archived those away. There is enough straight romance out there to suffocate as all.
Actually, I’ve been getting into queer horror. Now while lesbians are queer, I’m talking about the other side of that coin.
About 75% of my initial reader base came to me because of my Sapphic fiction and I am in no way getting away from that genre. But with all of the ideas swimming around in my head, I have stories I want to tell that have male leads. This post isn’t about IF I should write MM horror… no, this is about separating it or not.
Many people say that an author should take on multiple pen names and identities based on the genres they write. For example, someone who writes YA books might want to change names if they dive into erotica. Or someone who writes Fantasy, may want to separate their westerns. Extremely different genres or keeping an age bracket separate, I would agree with those instances.
Cyan LeBlanc (not my real name) has transcended between BDSM erotica and cannibalistic horror – but has kept a common theme… lesbian fiction. Could Cyan travel to a wider audience of LGBTQ+ dark fiction, giving away to gays and trans characters? Or should Cyan even do that?
In no way do I want to alienate my Sapphic readers, or inundate them with penises when they rather be smothered in a pair of perky tits. Trust me, I get it. I like boobies just as much as the next lesbian.
CONS: Starting a new pen name means completely starting over in a genre (horror) which I am already in. No one would know this new person, which means that it will be harder to get people to read my books. Starting over means a new website with no traffic… a facebook with no friends… and a email list with maybe five people.
PROS: With Cyan, many already know my style of writing and are willing to give another genre a chance. Just like my readers who have lesbian cannibals a chance when they were used to lesbians with whips and chains (thank you to those who did). I have the website. I have the email list. I have the exposure.
Here are my question to you:
Do you think it is a better option to keep Sapphic fiction separate from other LGBTQ fiction with a different pen name, or not?
I’d like your thoughts on the matter… Reply or comment.
If I trust a writer I will try genres I wouldn’t naturally gravitate to. However, if the pairing is different I would need to know that before reading. I don’t mean trigger warning but clear from the blurb. It seems wrong to not use your established reader base as a starting point. I have seen xxxxx writing as yyyyy, which I thinks let’s people know this is different but from the same talent.